Blue Island resident scores awards for work on stage
Celebrated Felicia Fields again preparing to ‘put a foot in history’
When it comes to firsts, Blue Island resident Felicia P. Fields has made quite the impression.
In 1996 she was the first African American female to portray The Ghost of Christmas Present in Goodman Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol,” and her 2005 Broadway debut in the original cast of “The Color Purple” earned her a Tony Award nomination.
“It was truly an amazing journey,” said Fields about being nominated for best featured actress in a musical for portraying Sofia in “The Color Purple,” which was presented by Oprah Winfrey, who played the role in the 1985 film of the same name. “I worked for Gary Griffin. I didn’t go there expecting anything other than to try to do justice for Chicago, especially for Gary. Since the beginning of my career, he always tried to make me the best I can be.”
Griffin, who directed Fields in “The Color Purple,” presented her with Porchlight Music Theatre’s 2021 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre, an award Griffin received in 2019.
“It’s a great honor to be able to get an award named for somebody that you actually had a relationship with and I certainly was very honored that I had that opportunity,” said Fields, whose acting debut was in the late 1980s in “The Wiz” at Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.
Porchlight artistic director Michael Weber invited Fields to make her Porchlight Mainstage debut as The Lady from the Road, one of the three female characters who are the focus of “Blues in the Night,” playing from Feb. 9-March 13 at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago.
“It’s one of these characters that has lived her life and had ups and downs but she’s coming on the downside of the career,” said Fields, who also worked with Weber for shows at Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana.
“She is reminiscing a lot about the things she used to do and actually knowing she has gone through all of these things and never attained the kind of notoriety she has aspired to obtain.
That’s lining up with me.”
Fields may be humble about her accomplishments but former Gov. Pat Quinn declared July 24, 2007, Felicia P. Fields Day, and her extensive credits include being a member of the first national tour of “The Color Purple,” which included an extended 2007 run at Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago.
She more recently played Miss Celie for “The Color Purple Audio Experience: A Benefit for Black Womxn” in December. OurSomewhere Digital Productions said the intimate theater experience was aimed at “raising funds for organizations that focus their work on Black and brown women and girls.”
“Whatever I can do to put a foot in history, I’m all for it. I’m always excited if I’m asked to do something to continue to pay it forward,” said Fields, who received an Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for actress in a revue for 1996’s “Sophisticated Ladies” at Drury Lane Evergreen Park.
“We’ve got a whole other generation of young people now. My advice is to obtain wisdom, listen to people, absorb what they’re saying and watch what they’re doing. We’ve all got to learn. We’ve all got to pay our dues. Be kind. Be thoughtful.”
Fields, who received Black Theatre Alliance’s 1997 Hattie McDaniel Award for best featured actress in a play (drama or comedy) for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” at the Goodman, said she is proud to be a trailblazer like the history makers in the field before her.
“I have always admired Sidney Poitier’s tenacity and his ability to stand up there and not be afraid to be who he was. He had such a potpourri of things he did and I greatly admire that,” she said about the first Black actor to win the best actor Oscar.
“I see Quincy Jones. He’s at the age he’s at and Sidney was at the age he was. I don’t know if I would have been able to go through some of the things that they went through. I think of Dorothy Dandridge and Ma Rainey. They did not lose their integrity.
“With all that they did to pave the way, we’re still working to have that way solidified. I do try to approach individuals — it doesn’t matter what color they are — the way they approach me. It’s not just doing a show. It’s how much you enjoy the people you’re doing the show with.”
“Blues in the Night,” which is directed and choreographed by Kenny Ingram, is set in the late 1930s at a hotel on Chicago’s South Side and includes the music of Bessie Smith, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Gordon Jenkins and Alberta Hunter.
“The blues is an honest expression of music,” said Fields, who has performed at Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Gospel Music Festival and Taste of Chicago.
“Blues in the Night” will be performed from through March 13 at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Tickets are $25-$74 and can be ordered at 773-777-9884 or porchlightmusictheatre.org.